Five minutes with bestselling crime writer Michael Robotham
Posted on
Loyalty, family, and justice – bestselling crime writer Michael Robotham is back with another thriller, which sees the return of beloved character PC Philomena McCarthy.
With The White Crow now on shelves (as of yesterday!) and Michael embarking on his July tour (including a stop in Canberra on Wednesday 2 July), we sat down with the two-time Gold Dagger Award winner to find out more.
What drew you back to Philomena McCarthy? What about her character demanded further exploration?
Philomena was meant to be a one-off character in a standalone novel, When You Are Mine, but she has been stalking me for two years. Rather than take out a restraining order, I decided to invite her back inside my head.
She is an ambitious young police officer, newly married, with a highly defined sense of right and wrong. But she has defied the odds to follow her dream, because she comes from a family of notorious London gangsters. Her father, Edward McCarthy and her uncles, Clifton, Daragh and Finbar are old style criminals, lovable psychopaths who steal every scene they’re in.
After nine books with Joe O’Loughlin, what’s it like developing a newer character like Philomena?
I love all of my characters, but writing in the first-person can sometimes feel like I’m living in a two-person tent with my best friend. Even a good friend can get on your nerves which is why I need to take a holiday and spend time with someone new.
Philomena is a very different character to Joe O’Loughlin. She’s in her late twenties, newly married, with a problematic family. Writing from a female perspective excites and terrifies me in equal measure. Women are the great readers of fiction (and that includes crime fiction) and they will be very quick to let me know if my Philomena doesn’t ring true as a character.
What do you hope readers take away from Philomena’s story beyond just the thriller elements?
My primary aim is always to entertain, but I hope that Philomena’s moral struggle to keep the two halves of her complicated life apart will resonate with readers. She has spent most her life trying to distance herself from her father and his underworld cronies, but she is an only child, which increases the pressure for her to reestablish closer ties.
Do you have more plans for Philomena in the future?
A TV series is in development in the UK, so we could be seeing more of her. I’m planning at least one more novel because I want to keep exploring her world. I can see fertile ground for conflict between Phil and her father – with each trying to win the other over.
Your investigative journalism background clearly informs your crime writing. How does that experience shape how you construct these complex plots?
I think journalism gives me an advantage because I know how to research stories and to find experts in any given field. I’m also capable of telling a complex story in a way that can be understood by readers and to hopefully entertain them.
What keeps you passionate about crime fiction after so many successful books?
I’m passionate about storytelling in all its forms. It doesn’t have to involve a crime. It could be about a quest, or rags to riches, or slaying a monster, or finding true love. When I run out of stories, I’ll know it’s time to retire, but the moment I still come to the blank page, with trepidation and excitement and a sense of wonder.
What do you think makes a successful crime book?
People often assume that crime novels are primarily plot-driven and offer readers a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns and surprises. Some stories are like this, but the best of the genre are character-driven and pose deep moral questions about justice and fairness, as well as shining a light into the darker corners of the human psyche.
Where do you see the genre heading in the future?
The crime and mystery genre has always been a very broad church, encompassing many sub-genres such as legal, domestic noir, hard-boiled, heist, police procedural, espionage, psychological and so on. There are trends that come and go, but readers are drawn to compelling characters and quality writing. That will never change.
Feature image and cover shot from Hachette
